Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 ia Paper 4 12C Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
With the prescribed magnetic-only Lorentz force , the component equations areDifferentiate the squared planar speed:Thus is constant, since the Lorentz force is perpendicular to the velocity.
For , introduce the velocity angle by , . The two planar equations imply . Therefore the velocity rotation in a time-dependent axial magnetic field has phaseEquivalently, the complex velocity satisfies , giving the same integrated phase. Integrating the velocities and provesThe constants are the initial position coordinates, is the constant velocity parallel to the field, is the initial planar speed, and is the initial planar-velocity direction modulo . Together they specify the initial position and velocity. If , the planar position stays fixed and the angle is immaterial.
For , the inner integral gives , with . Under the specified initial data,Rescale . The given Fresnel integrals then giveHence the limiting position isThe negative coordinate follows from clockwise rotation of planar velocity for positive charge and positive . The position converges through cancellation of increasingly rapid oscillations; its convergence does not mean the constant planar speed tends to zero.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 70 2 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Put and define . Direct cylindrical differentiation givesThe azimuthal component of the Lorentz force is proportional to . A force-free magnetic field therefore has parallel meridional gradients of and , implying on connected regular flux surfaces. ConsequentlyWith this dependence the poloidal part of is . Its full cross product with isVanishing force therefore requires wherever the flux gradient is nonzero, extending by regularity through ordinary isolated nulls. Finally, evaluating the three-dimensional cylindrical divergence gives , soThis derives the Grad-Shafranov equation for a force-free magnetic field. The function is set by boundary/current information; it is not an additional fixed constant. Its single-valued global form presumes the usual connected flux-surface labeling. The equation also makes , explicitly showing that current is parallel to the magnetic field.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 74 3 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let be the reference mass density, the kinematic viscosity, the thermal diffusivity, the magnetic diffusivity, and the coefficient of thermal expansion. The conductive state of Rayleigh-Bénard convection is . For the Boussinesq approximation, density variation is retained only in buoyancy. Linearizing about this state and the imposed magnetic field givesHere and is the perturbation of magnetohydrodynamic total pressure. The gradient part of the Lorentz force has been absorbed into ; the remaining term is magnetic tension. The sign in the temperature equation follows from .
Use the thermal-diffusion scaling of a convection layer: length , time , velocity , temperature perturbation , field perturbation , and total-pressure perturbation . Dropping dimensionless-variable decorations giveswithThese are respectively the Rayleigh number, Chandrasekhar number, Prandtl number, and magnetic-to-thermal diffusivity ratio. In particular, the magnetic coefficient is , not alone, in these thermal-time units. At , the boundary conditions are , , and .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 74 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Write for the squared isothermal sound speed, distinguishing the gas constant from a Rayleigh number, and put . A uniform magnetic field has no bulk Lorentz force, so hydrostatic equilibrium and the ideal gas equation giveAt the interface, it is magnetohydrodynamic total pressure, not gas pressure alone, that is continuous:Define . The magnetic pressure discontinuity in an isothermal atmosphere therefore producesIn particular, the upper gas is denser at the interface. Both halves have the same scale height , despite their different pressure normalizations.
For the disturbance calculation, write , , where , and . Work to leading order in the prescribed short-vertical-scale approximation: the bulk motion is locally incompressible potential flow, while the isothermal equation determines the equilibrium density jump. Its scale separation and small compressive correction will be checked at the maximizing mode.
Let the interface displacement be and . Using displacement rather than velocity potentials, write and . Incompressibility and irrotational flow give . Decay away from the interface and continuity of its normal displacement fixwith the common horizontal and temporal exponential understood. Both satisfy . Thus the disturbance has vertical extent of order .
In ideal magnetohydrodynamics, magnetic flux freezing gives for these locally incompressible displacements. If is the total-pressure perturbation, linear momentum isSince on the mode, integration in each half-space yieldsAt the displaced interface, continuity of Lagrangian magnetohydrodynamic total pressure requires . Inserting the two potentials gives the orthogonal-field magnetic Rayleigh-Taylor dispersion relation:The first term is the destabilizing Rayleigh-Taylor instability of the heavier upper gas; the second is stabilizing magnetic tension. A negative right-hand side gives an oscillatory mode rather than growth.
For fixed , the magnetic penalty isIt is minimized by : the wavevector is along the weaker upper magnetic field and perpendicular to the stronger lower field. If , define and . The growth law for this orientation is , a concave quadratic with maximum at . HenceFor this orientation the unstable interval is ; the maximum lies halfway along it.
The localization condition for the fastest orthogonal-field interface mode follows directly from the vertical decay length:This is the condition for on both sides. It also controls the locally incompressible approximation, sinceAcoustic adjustment is then fast compared with growth, so bulk density perturbations are higher-order corrections. If this localization condition fails, the constant-background approximation cannot be used to identify the physical fastest mode.
Finally, the printed assumptions allow . In that case eliminates magnetic tension on both sides and gives . There is no finite maximum growth rate or maximizing wavenumber in the ideal sharp-interface model: growth is unbounded as . The finite maximum and localization formula above therefore require .
In the growth curves, is the angle of the horizontal wavevector from the -axis. The illustrated ratio gives , and shows how even a small rotation toward the stronger magnetic field lowers the maximum growth.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 ia Paper 4 10C i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Dot Newton's second law with . The magnetic cross-product term is perpendicular to this velocity, soThusorThe two halves are the kinetic energy and the isotropic spring's potential energy. The expression in the question is twice their sum. The Lorentz force changes the direction of motion but supplies no power, because it is perpendicular to velocity; this explains why the magnetic field does not appear in the conserved mechanical energy. The sign corresponds to charge .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 iii Paper 65 3 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
On one poloidal flux surface, the field-line angular velocity is constant. In a frame rotating at that rate the relative velocity is , parallel to the magnetic field. The Lorentz force is perpendicular to this motion, and the Coriolis force also does no work. Centrifugal acceleration comes from the effective potential . Since entropy is constant along the surface, pressure work integrates to specific enthalpy , with along the flow.
Therefore kinetic energy relative to the rotating poloidal flux surface, enthalpy and effective gravitational-plus-centrifugal potential have a constant sum:This is a corotating energy integral, not the laboratory energy alone: Maxwell stress tensor stresses can transfer energy and angular momentum in the laboratory frame. In fact the expression equals , namely the total magnetohydrodynamic Bernoulli invariant minus . Differential rotation between surfaces does not invalidate the argument, because the chosen angular velocity is fixed along the particular surface being followed.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 ii Paper 3 35E Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
In the instantaneous rest frame the total radiation has zero net three-momentum, so its emitted four-momentum is proportional to the four-velocity. A Lorentz boost multiplies its energy by , while the elapsed coordinate time for the source is also multiplied by . Their ratio, total instantaneous radiated power, is therefore invariant. This concerns total emitted power, not the directional flux or an observer's photon arrival rate.
Use the metric of signature and dots for proper-time derivatives. From obtain , where . Differentiating givesSquaring in the Minkowski metric, using , gives , henceIn the rest frame, is the squared ordinary acceleration, so invariance of power and the low-speed Larmor formula give . In terms of coordinate-time acceleration , this is the Lienard formulaFor circular motion perpendicular to , and the Lorentz force gives . ThusAt low speed , reproducing ordinary Larmor radiation with magnetic acceleration .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 ib Paper 2 17B iii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Newton's second law with the computed Lorentz force gives . Separating variables and imposing yieldsThe velocity vector is this scalar times , and the characteristic decay time is positive for the stated parameters.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 ib Paper 2 17B ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
The current vector along the bar points downward. Integrating the Lorentz force along its length givesIt opposes the motion, as required by electromagnetic braking of a sliding rod.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 iii Paper 74 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let the basic temperature be with , the density be , gravitational acceleration be , and thermal expansion coefficient be . Denote kinematic viscosity, thermal diffusivity and magnetic diffusivity by . Write the dimensional magnetic perturbation as , the temperature perturbation as , and use constant permeability . Linearizing the Boussinesq equations and the resistive induction equation about the static state givesThe Lorentz force identity is . Its gradient term is absorbed into , the perturbation magnetohydrodynamic total pressure. The temperature source follows from .
Choose any reference length , since no vertical boundaries are prescribed. Scale length by , time by , velocity by , temperature perturbation by , magnetic perturbation by , and total pressure by . The dimensionless parameters areThey are the Prandtl number, magnetic-to-thermal diffusivity ratio, Rayleigh number, and Chandrasekhar number, respectively. Division by the chosen scales givesIn particular , so the diffusivity convention agrees with the momentum coefficient.
For a plane wave put , , and . The induction and temperature equations imply and . The projection removes pressure. Because , its vertical momentum equation isThus the oblique-field plane-wave magnetoconvection dispersion relation isIf out-of-plane velocity is also allowed, its decoupled magnetic branch satisfies ; it has no buoyant driving. At stationary marginality, for ,These are stationary thresholds; an oscillatory marginal mode, if present for particular diffusivity ratios, is a different onset calculation.
For , write , where and . Direct differentiation gives , so its two minima are , with and . For the negative sign has the smaller magnetic penalty: at every positive , because both sine and cosine of the inclination are positive. The wavenumber selection in oblique-field magnetoconvection therefore starts from . Expanding gives , where . Taylor expansion of the value then givesThis proves the small-field forms, including the order of the correction.
For large , is nonnegative and vanishes only at . The candidate has finite threshold , so a global minimizer must satisfy and hence tend to . Here . Expanding the stationarity condition at yieldsThe value expansion isThe leading coefficient follows from . The expansion holds at fixed .
Finally choose . Then the nonmagnetic minimizing wavevector also has , and its magnetic penalty vanishes. Since and , this is the global minimum for every nonnegative field strength:This field-independent stationary threshold in oblique magnetoconvection has a simple physical explanation: the disturbance is constant along the imposed field, so it does not bend field lines.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 iii Paper 74 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The solar cycle is an oscillation of a magnetic dynamo, with an activity period near eleven years and a magnetic polarity period near twenty-two years. The observational task is to explain a structured, variable cycle rather than a perfectly periodic reversal of one uniform field. Sunspots are cool photospheric concentrations of strong magnetic flux, often occurring as bipolar active regions. Their number rises and falls through successive solar cycles. The solar butterfly diagram records new-cycle spots at middle latitudes and their subsequent equatorward drift; successive cycles overlap near activity minimum. Cycle lengths and amplitudes vary, and the two hemispheres need not evolve in exact synchrony.
Magnetic observations impose stronger constraints than the spot count alone. Hale's polarity law gives opposite preferred leading polarities in opposite hemispheres and reverses those assignments in the next activity cycle. Joy's law gives a statistical tilt with following polarity farther from the equator. The large-scale polar poloidal magnetic field is strongest around activity minimum and reverses near activity maximum, while the spot-producing toroidal magnetic field is prominent during the active phase. Poleward transport of dispersed active-region flux accompanies these polar reversals. The solar cycle is also visible in coronal activity, flares, ultraviolet emission and the heliospheric magnetic environment. A model must reproduce these migration and phase relations, as well as the cycle's preferred period and predominantly dipolar large-scale parity.
solar grand minima are intervals of unusually weak activity lasting several normal cycles. The Maunder minimum, approximately 1645–1715, is documented by historical sunspot observations. Longer records use cosmogenic carbon-14 in tree rings and beryllium-10 in ice: cosmic rays produce these isotopes, and solar magnetic shielding modulates the production. Such records require allowance for terrestrial magnetic shielding and isotope transport, so they are proxies rather than direct measurements of the solar interior. Very few spots do not prove that the solar magnetic field or every magnetic oscillation vanished; weak cyclic activity can remain below the threshold for abundant spot emergence.
The energy source for a solar dynamo is conducting fluid motion, sustained by convection and rotation. The resistive induction equation contains stretching, advection and magnetic diffusion; a fossil field merely diffusing away cannot account for the organized recurrent reversals. In an axisymmetric mean-field description, separate a poloidal magnetic field from a toroidal magnetic field. Differential rotation stretches poloidal flux into toroidal flux through the Omega effect, with source proportional to . This alone cannot complete a self-sustaining regeneration loop. Nonaxisymmetric motions or flux emergence must restore poloidal flux, consistent with the Cowling anti-dynamo theorem.
The averaged induction equation isA local isotropic illustrative closure is ; solar rotation and stratification generally require more general tensor coefficients. Helical motions can provide an alpha effect, with the kinematic short-correlation estimate . Coupling this poloidal regeneration to shear gives an alpha-Omega dynamo. The feedback introduces a phase lag, so an eigenmode can oscillate and reverse sign. Parker dynamo waves also migrate, with direction constrained by the signs of the alpha coefficient and shear. Producing equatorward rather than poleward migration is therefore a physical test of the chosen source and rotation profile, not an automatic consequence of any oscillatory solution.
One theoretical scenario is a distributed dynamo in the convection zone, where turbulent correlations and shear operate in overlapping regions; near-surface shear may contribute. Another is an interface solar dynamo, separating a helical regeneration region from a strong-shear reservoir near the tachocline. The rotational transition and stable layer offer possible toroidal-field amplification and storage, but transporting field between separated regions is essential. Flux-tube or magnetohydrodynamic instabilities can supply alternative regeneration processes. Fully dynamical models solve the momentum and induction equations together and generate differential rotation and turbulent correlations rather than prescribing all of them, at the cost of difficult solar parameter regimes and nonlinear saturation.
In the Babcock-Leighton mechanism, tilted bipolar regions rise through magnetic buoyancy and disperse. Their systematically separated polarities undergo different cancellation and transport: following-polarity flux reaching the poles helps reverse and rebuild the polar field. This makes the observed tilt a source of poloidal regeneration and links surface processes to interior toroidal flux. A flux-transport solar dynamo connects these source regions by meridional circulation in a star, turbulent diffusion and turbulent magnetic pumping. Poleward surface transport and an assumed equatorward deep return can help explain the opposite migration of polar and spot-bearing fields. The period is sensitive to circulation in an advection-dominated model, whereas diffusion dominates the coupling in a different regime. Thus similar observed cycles may arise from different transport assumptions.
A linear growing dynamo must be saturated. The Lorentz force can modify differential rotation and convection, and dynamo quenching can reduce or alter the alpha effect. Magnetic-helicity constraints couple the large-scale and fluctuating fields; transport of helicity can matter for avoiding excessively strong quenching. Random variations of active-region tilts or turbulent coefficients produce amplitude fluctuations. Nonlinear mode competition and deterministic modulation can also produce weak epochs, while stochastic or internally generated intermittency can move a dynamo close to or below its excitation threshold. These are competing explanations for solar grand minima. A successful scenario must explain recovery as well as suppression: a poloidal source that depends entirely on large emerging spots becomes weak precisely when those spots disappear, so recovery may require a residual weak-field regeneration mechanism. Observed hemispheric asymmetry and persistence or loss of cycle phase during a weak epoch offer ways to distinguish the scenarios. The observations establish an organized magnetic cycle; they do not select one unique combination of source location, transport and nonlinear modulation.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 ia Paper 4 12A a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
With no electric field, the Lorentz force isFor nonrelativistic motion, the work-energy theorem givesConsequently . The reason is geometric: magnetic forces do no work because they are perpendicular to the instantaneous velocity. They can change its direction but not its magnitude. The same energy conclusion holds relativistically, using and subtracting the constant rest energy to obtain kinetic energy.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 iii Paper 58 5 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let a dot denote differentiation with respect to an affine geodesic parameter . The five-dimensional geodesic Lagrangian isBecause is cyclic, its Euler-Lagrange equation gives the conserved quantityThis is the conserved momentum per unit five-dimensional mass associated with the Killing vector field . For the other coordinates, differentiate . Using givesThe first two terms combine into , with the Christoffel symbols of . Define the four-dimensional electromagnetic field tensor and raise its index with . The complete reduced geodesic equations areThis is the Kaluza-Klein geodesic Lorentz force. The Christoffel symbols describe the gravitational motion in general relativity in the four-dimensional metric tensor, while the right-hand side is antisymmetric in its lowered indices and gives the relativistic Lorentz force. In particular,Thus the force preserves the four-dimensional velocity norm, as a Lorentz force must. A particle with is neutral and follows an ordinary four-dimensional geodesic. Nonzero compact momentum gives electric charge, with its sign determined by the direction of motion around the circle.
To identify the actual charge-to-mass ratio, suppose the five-dimensional particle has mass and is its five-dimensional proper time, so . Then . Four-dimensional proper time obeys ; since is constant, satisfiesHere is in the geometric normalization of the supplied potential . The relation also follows directly from the five-dimensional mass shell, and continues to identify the effective mass when the higher-dimensional particle is massless. The distinction between the two proper times prevents mistaking itself for the physical four-dimensional charge-to-mass ratio. A rescaling of to a canonically normalized electromagnetic potential correspondingly rescales .
For the wave calculation, take a scalar field of five-dimensional mass in units , obeying . In the coordinate order , direct inversion of the metric tensor givesThe determinant follows by the triangular change of coframe from to , whose determinant is one. Write . Since all coefficients are -independent, the scalar covariant wave operator isExpanding the right-hand side verifies both cross terms , the term , and the coefficient of .
Single-valuedness under the compact coordinate period requires the Fourier seriesFor the th Kaluza-Klein mode, put and . The five-dimensional Klein-Gordon equation reduces toThis is the charged four-dimensional Klein-Gordon equation: the divergence expression includes both the spacetime connection and the gauge connection. Its interpretation as electric charge can also be checked directly. Under the fibre coordinate change , the metric retains its form with , and the scalar Fourier coefficient changes by . Hence , exactly the transformation law for a field of charge .
The Kaluza-Klein charge quantization is thereforePositive and negative integers give opposite charges, and the zero mode is neutral. Restoring gives compact momenta , so their fundamental spacing is . These are charges in the metric's geometric normalization. If for a physically normalized electromagnetic potential , the physical charge unit is in natural units, or with restored. Determining requires an electromagnetic action normalization not specified by the metric ansatz alone.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 ii Paper 4 15E Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Put . The Hamilton equations areDifferentiate the mechanical momentum and substitute:With and in this zero-scalar-potential gauge, this is , the Lorentz force in the units of the Hamiltonian.
For , is cyclic, so is conserved. Choose , giving , where . Since , its Hamilton equation gives , henceFor nonzero constant , the orbit is an ellipse of semiaxes and . Its enclosed phase-space area is , so the action variable isThe absolute value keeps the action positive if the signed charge or magnetic field is negative.
When the field varies slowly along the trajectory, with and no zero-frequency crossing, adiabatic invariance of the action makes approximately constant. Thus and the slow motion has effective HamiltonianThe effective potential is the second term. Direct averaging checks its force: the exact equation is , while the oscillator has . Hence . Spatial field variation along the slow motion must satisfy the same adiabatic condition; slow explicit time variation alone does not control passage through a sharp spatial gradient. A time-dependent effective potential need not conserve total energy.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 ia Paper 4 3B Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
With no electric field, the Lorentz force is . The equation from Newton's second law and its first integral areThe cyclotron frequency is ; the sign of specifies the sense of rotation. Since , the initial data giveThe component equations are , and . For , differentiating the first givesSolving this linear differential equation and then using givesThe perpendicular projection is a circle of radius centred at , the guiding centre. The velocity parallel to the magnetic field stays constant, producing helical motion in a uniform magnetic field.
When , this simplifies toThus the trajectory is a helix about the axis, with radius and axial advance per complete revolution in increasing time. Its projection moves clockwise when viewed from positive for . If it is a circle; if it is a straight line along the axis.
For , the Lorentz force vanishes and the solution is instead , also the limit of the general formula. The special condition then forces .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 iii Paper 59 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Take the equilibrium mass density to be constant and absorb any conservative equilibrium force into the pressure. The linearized ideal magnetohydrodynamic induction equation, using the solenoidal vector field conditions, isFor , differentiation of the cylindrical basis is important. Acting on a vector whose cylindrical components have azimuthal dependence gives . Also . These basis contributions cancel in induction, giving .
The perturbation of the Lorentz force isBoth of the first two terms now contribute a basis-rotation term. With , the linearized ideal magnetohydrodynamic momentum equation is thereforeThe magnetic part of is the perturbation of magnetic pressure, not an extra restoring force to retain after projecting out pressure.
Put , where . For , substitute into the momentum equation and multiply by . Taking a curl removes the modified pressure. Sincewe obtain the uniform-current toroidal-field curl reductionA second curl, using , givesThe divided expression assumes . If , the undivided curl equation shows that would force , so this restriction loses no such magnetic mode. The degenerate limit can instead be taken in the undivided equations; it has no growing branch of the kind considered below. Axisymmetric disturbances are likewise excluded by the velocity elimination, and induction gives no nonzero-frequency magnetic disturbance in this particular equilibrium.
For a vector Laplacian eigenmode with , elimination givesThus both squared frequencies are real. The lower branch satisfies , so it is positive for . For it is positive when , but the printed strict-positivity statement needs an endpoint qualification: , permits a neutral mode unless boundary conditions exclude it.
This is a genuine counterexample to the unqualified endpoint, not merely a loose algebraic bound. The neutral quadrupolar perturbation of a uniform-current toroidal fieldis regular at the axis, is solenoidal, and has , hence . Also , so the non-gradient part of the linearized Lorentz force vanishes for . The gas-pressure perturbation cancels its magnetic pressure gradient, as required by . Taking its real part gives a real disturbance. Decay at radial infinity or an appropriate homogeneous radial boundary condition would exclude it, restoring strict positivity for the allowed eigenmodes; no such condition is printed.
For the lower branch is unstable precisely whenAt equality it is marginal. With the time convention , the growing member has andThe other branch remains oscillatory. Actual admissibility of a chosen depends on the radial domain and its boundary conditions.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 iii Paper 59 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The magnetorotational instability extracts energy from differential rotation through magnetic tension. It can destabilize a disk whose specific angular momentum increases outward, even though such a disk satisfies Rayleigh's circulation criterion. The distinction is that an unmagnetized displaced parcel approximately conserves its own angular momentum, whereas a field line transfers angular momentum between parcels. If angular velocity decreases outward, an outward-displaced parcel lags its inner partner. Magnetic tension transfers angular momentum to the outer parcel and removes it from the inner one, making their radial separation increase. A sufficiently stiff magnetic connection suppresses the separation instead. The instability therefore requires a finite range of field-line-bending strengths.
Make this mechanism quantitative in the local shearing sheet of a cylindrical rotation profile . Put , and take so the unmagnetized flow is stable. Its radial epicyclic frequency is . Let the uniform field be vertical, , with constant mass density, and use an axisymmetric horizontal disturbance proportional to . Write and . The linearized ideal magnetohydrodynamics equations areThe first pair contains Coriolis acceleration and the epicyclic response; the last equation is the shear-winding of a radial field perturbation into an azimuthal one. Omitting that winding term would remove the driving mechanism.
Eliminating gives and . Their determinant is the ideal magnetorotational dispersion relationIts discriminant as a quadratic in is . Since , a positive exists precisely when its constant term is negative:Thus angular velocity, rather than specific angular momentum, must decrease outward. A Keplerian disk has , and is hydrodynamically stable, yet magnetic modes with grow.
The growing root is . Differentiation with respect to gives the maximum growth rate of ideal magnetorotational instability:For Keplerian shear these are and . The ideal maximum is set by shear; reducing field strength reduces the fastest wavelength instead of reducing this maximum growth rate. This is why the exactly zero-field problem differs from a sequence of weak-field problems with progressively larger wave number. At fixed wave number, growth does tend to zero as the field vanishes. The wavelength must fit the actual disk, and diffusion eventually matters at sufficiently short scales.
The instability has the required angular-momentum-transfer sign. In a growing mode, . At the fastest mode this ratio is one, while induction gives after allowing for their common Fourier phase. Thus the averaged Reynolds stress minus Maxwell stress tensor, , is positive: angular momentum moves outward. Its product with is the energy supplied by the background shear. These local mechanisms and coefficient conventions are also checked in the primary MRI stability calculation.
More general fields require separating field-line bending from field gradients and curvature. At leading local order, for a stationary compatible field in an incompressible flow with axisymmetric wavevector , the bending frequency isPressure elimination projects the radial force by . The radial momentum equation becomes ; the azimuthal and induction equations retain the form above. Eliminating the amplitudes gives the oblique axisymmetric magnetorotational dispersion relationHere . The unstable range is . The poloidal magnetic field therefore determines whether an axisymmetric perturbation bends a field line. A locally uniform toroidal magnetic field does not enter for axisymmetry, and can contribute magnetic pressure that is projected out of this incompressible leading-order problem. Thus a toroidal component does not suppress the weak-field MRI merely by being present. Conversely a purely toroidal field has no ordinary axisymmetric local bending MRI in this approximation. This does not imply that every globally curved toroidal equilibrium is stable.
A steady general poloidal magnetic field must also be compatible with the equilibrium rotation. The azimuthal ideal magnetohydrodynamic induction equation contains . A stationary axisymmetric equilibrium with no meridional flow consequently requires , Ferraro's law of isorotation. A radial field crossing cylindrical differential-rotation surfaces would otherwise wind secularly; it cannot simply be substituted into a stationary normal-mode calculation. Boundary conditions and the along-field eigenvalue problem replace a freely chosen local in nonuniform or bounded equilibria. Strong enough field-line tension can then stabilize all admissible wavelengths.
An explicit axisymmetric effect of nonuniform field strength and curvature is obtained with a purely toroidal field , constant mass density and cylindrical rotation. A radial fluid displacement changes the field byThis follows directly from and incompressibility. Its radial curvature force, after absorbing the magnetic-pressure perturbation, is . The axisymmetric azimuthal momentum equation is . Combining it with the radial force and then projecting out pressure givesThis is the local Michael criterion for axisymmetric toroidal-field interchange. The new term can either stabilize or destabilize: for , . A current-free is stabilizing; leaves this axisymmetric interchange coefficient unchanged; a sufficiently steep increase with can destabilize even a centrifugally stable rotation law. That last instability can persist without differential rotation, so its energy source is the magnetic-current equilibrium rather than the ordinary MRI. Nonaxisymmetric current-driven modes are outside the requested essay scope.
For mixed poloidal and toroidal fields, the full induction perturbation contains , and the linear Lorentz force contains both and . These terms explain why gradients and curvature cannot be replaced everywhere by a scalar : they can draw on equilibrium-current energy and couple the radial and vertical motions. Compressibility introduces additional magnetic pressure and magnetosonic responses; a strong toroidal field can alter the dispersion even though it disappeared from the leading incompressible weak-field result.
Finally, a vertically or radially stratified general field also supports part of the equilibrium weight through magnetic pressure. A displaced flux tube carries its frozen-in mass-to-flux relation, so its mass density at the surrounding total pressure can differ from its new environment. This introduces magnetic buoyancy instability and competition with ordinary buoyancy. Axisymmetric interchange displacements can access this energy without an azimuthal wave number, while poloidal tension resists variation along the field. Growth that survives when must not be attributed to shear-driven MRI. The general-field stability problem therefore combines shear, field-line tension, current/curvature forces, compressibility, buoyancy and boundary constraints; the uniform-field result isolates the basic angular-momentum feedback mechanism.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 ii Paper 3 36B Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Use units , consistent with comparing directly to , and metric signature . For an arbitrary worldline parameter , an action for a charged relativistic particle isThe first term has variation in its momentum, and the coupling gives . The Euler-Lagrange equations therefore readWhen is proper time, has , giving the covariant Lorentz forceWith and , put , , for nonzero charge. The velocity equations becomeThus , with , . Integrating with , gives , and . Integrate once more from the origin:For zero charge the trajectory is simply rest, , with all spatial coordinates zero. The charged trajectory oscillates in while drifting in the negative direction, the direction of . Its displacement-to-time ratio over a proper-time period is . A boost at that drift velocity removes the electric field and leaves circular magnetic motion; in the original frame the orbit has repeating cycloidal cusps where the particle is momentarily at rest. Energy oscillates rather than growing indefinitely because . In SI units the corresponding magnetic-dominated condition is .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2011 ia Paper 4 9B a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Take the scalar product of Newton's second law with the velocity . The cross product is perpendicular to its first factor, soConsequentlyThis is conservation of energy: the sum of kinetic energy and potential energy stays fixed. The magnetic-type Lorentz force does no work, because it is perpendicular to the instantaneous velocity. It may turn the trajectory but cannot directly change its speed, regardless of the spatial variation of .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 ia Paper 4 3C Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
In classical charged particle in a uniform magnetic field motion, the Lorentz force and Newton's second law giveAssume and choose an orthonormal coordinate system with , . Write , retaining the sign of the electric charge. The velocity equations areThus the parallel velocity is constant, and the perpendicular velocity rotates at constant angular frequency. Choosing the time origin and perpendicular axes conveniently givesIntegrating the velocity, one obtainsThe first two coordinates describe a circle of radius , while the third advances uniformly. This is helical motion in a uniform magnetic field: the helix has axis parallel to through the guiding centre. Its cyclotron frequency isand its signed angular velocity vector about that axis is . The minus sign follows from the ordering in the Lorentz force. The helix degenerates to a circle when and to a straight line when . If or , there is only straight-line motion. In a relativistic extension with fixed Lorentz factor , the frequency becomes ; the classical result above uses as momentum.

